After the devastating floods in Hebei’s Yesanpo, eight travel agencies in Jinan took proactive measures to ensure the earliest possible return of tourists. It is understood that by the evening of July 24, all 365 tourists from 10 tour groups organized by the eight agencies in Jinan had safely returned to the city, with no casualties. A relevant official from the Municipal Tourism Bureau stated that the next step will be to coordinate the resolution of costs and claims arising from the tourists’ prolonged stay, as well as to recognize the good deeds performed during this tourism emergency.
Afraid the roads would be impassable, they sent two 37-seat buses to the scenic area
At 3:30 a.m. on the 24th, after seeing the last tourist home, Jia Qiang, general manager of Jinan Shiji Xing Travel Agency, finally returned home exhausted. By then, all 52 tourists from his agency had safely returned to Jinan without any injuries or fatalities.
Jia Qiang told reporters that upon learning that the tourists were stranded, they actively studied countermeasures and decided to send two 37-seat buses to Yesanpo to pick up the trapped tourists. “The first group of guides who came out said the roads were very difficult to navigate, so we didn’t dare send large vehicles. We set off from Jinan at 5:30 a.m. yesterday (the 23rd) and didn’t get into the mountains until after 3 p.m.”
It is understood that although the floodwaters had receded considerably by then, the scenic area was still in complete disarray, with many buses and cars stuck in the river. “The buses had to move very cautiously along the road. We felt the roadbed had been eroded by the water and might collapse at any moment,” Jia Qiang said.
There were still a few seats left, so they picked up seven or eight tourists from other groups
According to Jia Qiang, the 52-member tour group from Shiji Xing was stranded on the other side of a stone bridge over the Juma River. The bridge had been damaged by the flood, its railings were gone, the structure exposed its rebars, and a bus lay tilted in the river. Their own buses simply couldn’t cross. Of the group’s original two buses, one had been washed away by the water and the other had taken in water, leaving the engine unable to function properly. “Although the vehicles couldn’t cross the bridge, the people could,” Jia Qiang said. “We had all the tourists cross the bridge on foot and get safely onto the buses. On the other side of the bridge, there were also over 30 tourists from Dazhong Holiday Travel Agency. Since we had brought two 37-seat buses, after our own tourists were seated and the staff seats were taken out, there were still seven or eight seats left. So we let the elderly, children, and those not in good health from the Dazhong Holiday group board first.”
The last group of Jinan tourists arrived home at 6 p.m. last night
“The driver from Dazhong Holiday kept calling us to ask about the route,” Jia Qiang said. By 6 p.m. on the 23rd, they had already set off on their return journey, while the bus from Dazhong Holiday Travel Agency was on its way from Jinan to Yesanpo.
The 37 tourists from Dazhong Holiday Travel Agency also left the danger zone on the 24th, rerouted via Beijing, and took a tour bus back to Jinan from there, arriving safely in Jinan at 6 p.m. that evening. With this, all 365 tourists from the 10 tour groups organized by the eight travel agencies in Jinan had safely returned to the city, with no casualties.
Authoritative data obtained from the Municipal Tourism Bureau shows the number of people affected from the eight Jinan travel agencies as follows: Jinan Xintai Travel Agency, 35 people; Dazhong Holiday Travel Agency, 51 people; Jinan Shiji Xing Travel Agency, 52 people; Shandong Senlin Travel Agency, 52 people; Jinan Wanlixing Travel Agency, 37 people; Jinan Tourism Distribution Center, 28 people; Shandong Jiahua International Travel Agency, 78 people; and Shandong Baishitong International Travel Agency, 32 people. Among them, the 32 people from Baishitong International Travel Agency were newly counted yesterday.